Brand & Strategy Archives - Page 3 of 4

10/11/2018

More than just a trend – Charities need to be more active on Twitter

You are probably aware of the popular online social networking website, Twitter. Founded in 2006, it now has over 310 million active users every month. You are quite possibly one of those active users yourself but are you using Twitter enough to promote your charity?

The word ‘twitter’ itself can be defined as ‘a series of short, high-pitched sounds’. That is exactly what Twitter should be used for. Spreading awareness through a series of short, high-impact messages that can be heard by your audience - Not just a quiet blur in the background that occurs once per week or month.

What is great about Twitter, is the ability to connect with an audience through a shared interest, an audience who want to speak about the same things and care about the same causes, an audience who are only 140 characters away...

Charities have found a new way to get their message heard by the right people. It doesn’t require an expensive TV campaign or 50,000 printed leaflets being handed out, only to be tossed in the nearest recycle bin. It requires a strong message and a hashtag.

As a marketer, I naturally check the trending column of Twitter each day (this shows what everybody online is tweeting about). Today 5 of the 10 viral hashtags belonged to charities. There were 3,511 Tweets about the #BigConversation for Dying Matters Awareness Week and 1,218 Tweeting under the hashtag #CoeliacAwarenessWeek. The others were #MCRHomelessnessCharter, which aims to tackle homelessness in Manchester, #ConcussionAware and #SunAwarenessWeek.

Whilst giving an insight into the level of competition in the charity sector, the amount of engagement the hashtags have received also show a trend in themselves... People online are willing to talk about a cause, they want to hear your message and in response they want to share their experiences and feelings. This not only strengthens brand awareness for yourself, it creates that short, high impact message that reaches the right people. Those who spread awareness and those who donate.

View some of our charity projects here.

If you need help making some noise on Twitter. Email hello@22group.co.uk or call 0161 672 7822 and we will help you put together a social strategy to really get you recognised.

Published by twentytwo in Brand & Strategy, Campaigns & Creative

08/11/2018

So, what’s your story?

For many companies and organisations their website is the first point of engagement for potential customers coming into contact with their brand and so it should effectively tell the story of the company. In fact the story of a company or organisation and how it came about is often a key starting point for defining your brand, establishing your business objectives and considering your key messages.

Statistics help promote an organisation’s results and outputs but stories bring a more human and emotive angle, helping the audience relate to your brand. Charities can really maximise on this idea, as not only do they have their own story to tell but the stories of all the people whose lives they have transformed through their work.

From compelling reasons to set up a charity, to how normal people have overcome great adversity to innovative fundraising successes and life-changing experiences - charities and the people they help have endless stories to tell. Charities also have endless reach, not only are you helping your target audience but often indirectly their friends and loved ones as well.

Here’s a few ways you can use the technique of storytelling to help enhance your brand and get your message out effectively on your website:

Tell stories which are relevant to your audience:

As with any organisation your people are your biggest asset, so let them tell their stories. Give everyone from staff and donors to those the charity supports and their loved ones a chance to talk about what the organisation means to them, this helps reinforce your core objectives. The Ovarian Cancer Action site does this well by showcasing stories from a diverse range of women’s experiences of dealing with cancer. It then goes a step further by also sharing the stories of some of the women’s partners and loved ones, again reiterating the impact and reach the charity has.

Make it personal:

Your charity came about as the result of something! Quite often a personal experience or desire to advocate for something which will help make the world a better place. The Malala Foundation (developed by female education activist Malala Yousafzai) isn’t afraid of telling Malala’s personal story and inspiration behind the charity. Every message reinforces the need for girls in the third world to have a right to education and the impact Malala’s work has had so far.

Use relevant images:

Support your stories with real pictures of your service users and their families. Showing people at all stages of their interaction with your charity is a good way to highlight the positive work you do and reinforce the wide range of people (or animals) you help. Using images to highlight your friendly team and the great, varied work their do on a day to day basis is also advisable.

Give it some structure:

A story has a beginning, a middle and an end….but not necessarily in that order! Successful stories that encourage people to keep engaging encourage elements such as characters, settings, plots, problems and solutions - try to integrate these aspects into how you tell your stories.

Get creative with storytelling:

The Refugee Project do a great job of integrating highly emotive stories that tug at the heartstrings with hard-hitting data. The United Nations data used is supported by original histories of the refugee crises spanning the last 4 decades. This dynamic map feature tells the global story of refugees on a mass-scale which is then supported by images of individuals, demonstrating the human impact. Ultimately charities are about helping people, they naturally inspire trust and a human relationship dynamic so focusing on conveying this across the website and other communications is key. Tell your story effectively using words, images and multimedia really get across the good work that you do.

Ultimately charities are about helping people, they naturally inspire trust and a human relationship dynamic so focusing on conveying this across the website and other communications is key. Tell your story effectively using words, images and multimedia really get across the good work that you do.

Published by twentytwo in Brand & Strategy

13/04/2016

Come see us at the Northern Business Expo – We’ll make it snappy!

The team at 22 Group are exhibiting at the Northern Business Expo on 14th and 15th April. The renowned business exhibition, which is free to the general public, provides business owners with the opportunity to forge valuable relationships with potential customers and suppliers, gain solid business advice from over 150 exhibitors as well as the chance to take part in free seminars and skills packed workshops. Two of those will feature 22 Group members this year in the Digital Marketing hub. The Expo has always attracted leading speakers and thought-leaders, this year featuring supermodel Caprice talking about how she built up her global enterprise.

Our award-winning Creative Director, Robin Arnold is holding an ‘Introduction to Branding’ workshop at 10.30 each day, which explores how understanding the difference between branding, marketing, design and advertising can lead to business success. If online is more your forte, at 2.15 you can head over to hear from Marketing Manager, Amber Stevens at a fun social media workshop which will provide you with the basic skills and knowledge to get started online and advice on how to make your social media campaigns an ongoing success.

If you fancy a break from developing new skills and knowledge, pop over to stand A22 to meet the rest of the team and get your selfie snapped for a chance to win a luxury 2-night stay in the prestigious Mayfair hotel, 9 Hertford St, just moments away from Buckingham Palace.

You can register here for your free tickets http://www.northernbusinessexpo.com/tickets/

See you there!

Published by twentytwo in Brand & Strategy, Campaigns & Creative, Company updates, Marketing & Analytics, Website Design & Build

24/03/2016

Icons from the past

Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, Marlon Brando, Coco Chanel… just some of the icons from the past that have become ingrained in popular culture. Their pictures are still seen on posters, billboards, TV and the web, decades after their death. What was it that has meant their image has stood the test of time so they are ingrained in popular culture? Was Marilyn Monroe the best singer, or the best actress of her generation, probably not, but her personality, her reputation, her glamour, her beauty and ultimately her brand is timeless? I do wonder if current day celebrities such as Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus will become such enduring symbols for decades to come.

Attention to detail, glamour, always making an effort to look and be your best. There is a lot to be said for this way of thinking in branding and marketing. Whether we like it or not, humans can be fickle. We are judged on the way we look, and the things we say and do and this can determine whether a customer would buy into our products and services. They need to buy into our brand before making a decision.

At 22 we believe that a company's brand is it’s reputation. It is the perception that others have. A reputation is formed, from a number of factors including: personality, customer service, value, style in the form of your corporate identity, and voice, as within your marketing.

This is why we have chosen the launch theme of the 22 website to be ‘icons from the past’. Relating back to a time when glamour, attention to detail, and reputation was everything. Going above and beyond to stand out from the crowd made these icons timeless.

Not only do they look cool but, this ethos mirrors our own company approach to branding, digital and marketing. Following a fashion helps you fit in. Setting the trends gets you noticed. As Coco Chanel eloquently puts it, “In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different.”

We treat each branding, digital and marketing project as a blank canvas and aim to help our clients convey their key messages, their personalities, in the most original and creative way possible. With the aim to get them noticed for today and tomorrow.

Published by twentytwo in Brand & Strategy, Company updates, Marketing & Analytics

21/06/2015

Facebook accounts for 1 in every 5 minutes spent on a mobile!

Facebook has announced that in the US it now accounts for 1 minute out of every 5 minutes spent on mobile, as it unveiled its figures for the second quarter of the year. Users also spend an average of 46 minutes per day on Facebook’s apps, not including WhatsApp.

A Facebook page is a great free marketing tool for businesses, it not only offers the ability to market product offers and listings, it gives companies the chance to engage and capture their potential audience and receive feedback.

Facebook’s advertising platform offers classic ads which appear in the side columns of the site which include a headline, image and click-through to either the business’s Facebook page or an external web page.

There are over 1.3 billion Facebook users worldwide, businesses should take advantage of the large scope audience available to them.

Published by twentytwo in Brand & Strategy

12/01/2015

Loyalty or lies?

After doing some research… A recurring question has arisen that really got me thinking.

Is there such thing as brand loyalty?

When looking at brands who have once been thriving and reputable, but are now bust, it really provokes me into thinking is there such thing as brand loyalty. Even slight misjudgements and errors from businesses can result in them losing any customer “loyalty” and create customer outrage instead. Even worse so, brands can have the same loyal customers for years, but as soon as they don’t fulfil their needs, or stay competitively priced, customers will ditch the brand quicker than Katie Price can dump her latest baby-daddy.

So how can you try and prevent losing your customers?

At 22 we are professionals when it comes to marketing, and we know what your customers want. We have come up with a few tips to help you build customer loyalty, but if you would like to find out our more visit us on one of the following

TIP 1:Don't get overconfident. Just because you're customers love what you're offering now, ensure you keep up to date with what you're customers want and how you can develop and excel further. You are never too established for substantial market research

TIP 2: Keep up to date with your competitors. We are all about standing out from the crowd, so see what you're competitors are doing and analyse what they are doing well, and what they aren't and use this to your advantage

TIP 3: Stay personable with your customers. Don't always go on the hunt for more sales, engage the ones you have and make them feel appreciated for this will lead to repeat service which can be more beneficial than new sales at times.

TIP 4: Stay true to your values, the reason customers have chosen you, is because they like what you have to offer. If you change your opinions and values regularly customers will lose trust in you and look elsewhere.

Published by twentytwo in Brand & Strategy

02/12/2013

Working to make EweMove.com best in show

Having successfully designed the website and distinctive brand-style for Ewemove.com, the UK’s first choice selling and lettings agent, we faced a new challenge. Their offer of special business relationships was being promoted at the highly competitive National Franchise Show in the Birmingham NEC. So the 22 team created a stand that would definitely stand out. We matched this with an attention-grabbing Customer Brochure, Franchise pack, Facebook App and an upgrade of their website. Altogether it ensured that Ewemove.com was a showstopper.

Robin Arnold, 22's Creative Director, comments: "Working with such a forward thinking company is both inspiring and enjoyable. We have helped build the brand and it is incredibly rewarding to see the team’s creative and technical work being showcased on a National level."

Glenn Ackroyd, co-owner of Ewemove.com adds: "22's amazing stand design, 'hot off the press' customer brochure and Franchise prospectus oozed credibility and professionalism. And the results speak for themselves. Ewemove.com achieved five times more expressions of interest than we’d been told to expect."

Glenn Ackroyd, EweMove.com – Halifax

Published by twentytwo in Brand & Strategy, Company updates

14/08/2013

Letting agency welcomes their fresh new look

Top North West Lettings Agency McDonald Property has opened their doors to a bright new brand refresh applied with taste and skill by Manchester-based design agency 22.

The new branding combines vivid friendly colours and homely images to evoke the welcoming service that McDonald provide to their tenants and landlords. It has been successfully applied to the website, marketing materials, and within the agency’s two offices in Blackpool and Cleveleys.

Robin Arnold, 22 creative director, says: “We felt that the lettings agency sector was awash with brands that were stuffy and old fashioned, and it was important to create something friendly, memorable and contemporary. After all, even if you are renting a property, it is still very much your home. Things like an inviting sofa, a pair of fluffy slippers, family picture frames and your pet cat convey feelings of homeliness, security and a sense of belonging.”

The new look follows the acquisition of McDonald by shared ownership specialist RHL, a subsidiary of the Regenda Group, in December last year.

Louise Douglas, Head of communications at the Regenda Group comments: “The new branding by 22 gives a fresh clean image to McDonald and builds on the friendly, knowledgeable and professional service that McDonald is known for.”

Published by twentytwo in Brand & Strategy, Marketing & Analytics

15/07/2013

A stylish make-over for an online estate agency site

Self-Sale.com is a very smart idea that needed a very smart website. They are an online estate agency offering a complete service for 0.5% +VAT but 22 gave them 100% in refreshing and refining their unique estate agency website.

We've had a very successful partnership since 2007 when 22 created their brand identity and we've been constantly helping them build their brand ever since. Our new look includes more emphasis in providing valuable property advice to their clients.

Steve Butt, a partner in Self-Sale.com comments: "I can always rely on the guys at 22 to give me total commitment and the most eye-catching site in my market"

Robin Arnold, creative director of 22 says "we're always keen to work with innovative, customer focused companies like Self-Sale.com and we're equally delighted with the end result".

Published by twentytwo in Brand & Strategy, Website Design & Build

06/03/2013

Morrissey & The Smiths by Kevin Cummins.

We have been helping our friends at Manchester photographic with their online marketing for an exhibition of photos of Morrissey and The Smiths by Kevin Cummins.

Manchester photographic is Manchester’s only independent photography school with its own professional school, studios, gallery and conferencing facilities. They work with some of the UK's most respected photographers and hold regular exhibitions of their work.

Kevin Cummins is one of the coolest photographers working in the UK. He is probably most famous for his photographs of rock bands including Joy Division, Manic Street Preachers, Sex Pistols, R.E.M., U2, The Smiths, and Oasis. Thursdays exhibition showcases his iconic photos of Morrissey and The Smiths.

The opening night of the exhibition is on Thursday 7th March, between 6-9pm, Unit 5, Sevendale House, Lever St, Manchester, M11WD.

The after party is just around the corner at the 'The Northern' pub on Tib street. If you are interested in coming along get in touch with Andy from Manchester Photographic on rsvp@manchesterphotographic.com.

Published by twentytwo in Brand & Strategy, Marketing & Analytics

23/02/2013

22 revive Key youth charity brand and website

We are chuffed to bits to announce the launch of the Key youth charity branding and website! Thanks to the team for all of their hard work and thanks to Key for being such a cool client.

We were asked to reinvigorate and refresh the look and feel for the youth charity Key. Their tired brand identity and website didn’t fully represent them as a charity aimed at young people.

Key is an amazing charity that provides housing support to young people up to the age of 25. Offering a variety of services including mediation, support, mentoring and counselling, it was imperative that their target audience could instantly connect with the brand; moreover to actively encourage them to get in touch and not immediately dismiss Key because of their outdated design.

Director of Key, Ursula Patten had a clear vision for the brand: “Key decided to update its identity as although our black and white Key was well designed and had been used for a long time, a number of young people had commented that it was boring and austere."

“We were looking for something to reflect that we are young person focused. We wanted something more colourful and more vibrant. We were delighted with the new logo - it was bright and simple - we felt that it wouldn’t date. This was the starting point for the redesign of the website. The old website was very static and one dimensional and again didn’t reflect Key’s ethos.”

Through clever use of typography we created a modern and engaging logo with subtle reference to the shape of a ‘Key’. The bright colour pallette, angular typography and photos of service users created a distinctive and memorable look that genuinely conveys Key’s message.

Key’s core requirements for the site were to appeal and convey vital information to young people who need help, and to also shout about the great work it is doing in order to fundraise and attract volunteers. These were also fulfilled by developing two clear routes through the site by using compelling graphic design.

Patten and the board of trustees were delighted with the end result and our collaborative approach: “We chose 22 as a number of our trustees had seen previous examples of their work. We were impressed by their professionalism. It helped that the staff put in the time to work with the board of trustees and took them through a number of design options and the thoughts behind them."

“The website design element felt like a two way process with Key’s thoughts and ideas fully incorporated. It is no easy task to build a website that will please all those involved, but 22 have been patient in ensuring that this happens. We are extremely pleased with the result. It doesn’t just look like any other website. It is bright and engaging.”

It was great to work with a charity that gives so much back to the youth community of today, it made this project so much more meaningful. It’s a privilege that our designs and strategic positioning of the brand will help young people to get the assistance that they need.

Published by twentytwo in Brand & Strategy, Website Design & Build

23/02/2013

The cream of superlogos

This months Superlogo is one of my personal top 5 favourite logos of all time. It was the marque that epitomised the crème de la crème of superclub branding in the 90's, the world famous spinning propeller — The Cream nightclub logo.

It may not have the historical baggage of some of the logo superheavy weights, but when it comes to elegance and form it is up there with the best of them.

20 years after it's inception the logo itself still looks as fresh and ultra modern as ever. In fact I would go as far as to say that I can't see this marque dating any time soon. The typeface maybe — but not a beautifully simple shape such as this. This is another example that simplicity tends to equal longevity when it comes to logo design.

If you don't already know, "Cream was the club that turned a dusty warehouse into the country's most popular dance-floor, that got people to queue through Liverpool's streets hour after hour and inspired students to apply to the city's universities in their droves. Cream then staged its first event in Ibiza in 1994 and continues to host one of the biggest club nights on the island at Amnesia, and has become the longest running UK Club night to stage events on the party isle. With Ibiza's cosmopolitan crowd the Cream story soon began to spread around the world and the company was soon organising events in places as varied as Buenos Aires to Moscow. The company now stages over 100 events annually and its international activity has gone on to become one of the company’s greatest achievements." Emma Johnson

It has booked stars like Kylie Minogue, made household names out of men who played other people's records and the lovely logo is recognised the world over.

The creative genius behind the Cream logo and branding was Rob Petrie. Here is a fascinating quote from the man himself:

"In 1993 I was a designer at Farrow when we were commissioned by Darren Hughes and James Barton the founders of Cream to design a logo for them. The brief was pretty loose but I remember Darren saying something like making it look ' classic like the Nike logo'. The early logo ideas were very much coming from the influence of Japanese car manufacturers logos - Toyota and Mitsubishi, where the logo is constructed of three interlocking elements that create the unified whole. As I then started using drop shapes referencing the actual name I was also trying to create something that was more organic yet had a subtle timeless strength to it, the Yin Yang symbol being an unlikely inspiration. When the final logo design revealed itself it was pretty obvious it was going to be the one that was chosen.

After featuring it on full page ads in pages of The Face, Ministry and Mixmag magazines it then featured on it's first CD sleeve 'Cream Live' - which was produced in five different colours of rubber. At this point I saw what was for me the most memorable incarnation of it as a 10cm high tattoo on a sweaty clubber on the dancefloor at Cream. Not sure how he'll explain that one to the grand kids.

In 1995 myself and fellow designer Phil Sims set up Dolphin Design as Mark (Farrow) left to form Farrow Design as we now know it. We continued with the Cream ads giving life to the logo and showing it's versatility by having it photographed made out of chrome, made into a snow dome, made of flowers, made into a leather chair etc. Around about this time we were quite often approached with the brief of 'can you give us something like the Cream logo you did?'

We also started creating the ads and sleeves for Renaissance nightclub, a competitor to Cream, featuring a whole range of natural objects - eggs, butterflies, flowers and leaves. Probably the most memorable campaign was the sleeves and posters was for The Mix Collection 4 which featured 3 different coloured leaves." Rob Petrie

The beauty of such a simple but distinctive marque is that it is extremely versatile. So versatile in fact, Cream have used the logo in one form or another in most of their marketing materials for the last 20 years. The logo has metamorphosed from leather chairs, to futuristic 3D graphics. From tattoos to teeth braces. In whatever guise it appears the marque is always instantly recognisable.

As you may have gathered I was bang into dance music and often frequented Cream back in its hey day in the mid 90's. So for a design student into the scene, the Cream branding and in particular the legendary Cream and Renaissance flyers were a huge inspiration for me and helped to mould my own design style.

Robin Arnold — Creative director

Published by twentytwo in Brand & Strategy, Marketing & Analytics